One Of My 7 Koi Fish Went Missing Today, My Favorite Orange And White. :-(

Sorry Mario. You're right that you need to protect the rest of them soon.

Tomorrow for sure Kathy, I'll be looking out for that owl tonight or what ever predator took liberties with my poor Koi, they will likely be back now.. I know it's the food chain but it's still sad to loose your pets, these Koi come to me every night knowing I will feed them.

I just now went to go feed them and to make matter worse they did not want to eat, that's a first! :-(

It is so easy to get attached to them. Even fish came become endearing when they get used to us caretaking of them.

My neighbor had very large Koi in his pond and we would walk down and feed them Cheerios almost every day.
" Delilah" was the large Momma fish. I knew it would be sad to leave my fish visits behind when I moved.


I hope you can get this net up quick - Racoons can be a menace too.

I'm sorry for the loss of your little buddy.

Are there raccoons in your area?

Just saw Janine had the same idea.

Thanks Janine,there are all kinds of critters around but I have not seen any racoons in our yard, large egrets are always a concern but since I have that roof overhead I haven't seen any large ones. My fish are pretty big guys and they won't be taken easy. I'm still thinking owl, or could be an osprey or a hawk as well, a few years ago there was a large owl on our porch in the process of hunting a rat.

Might be a bobcat we have those but I have never seen one on my property. I won't sleep well tonight until I get that bird netting tomorrow.

A heron or snake could also be the killers. One of our friends cought a snake eating their fish.

Sorry to hear that Mario.

I have Koi fish in a pond near the back of my house and the first morning after the pond was installed I looked out of my window and saw a huge heron sitting on top of my garden shed. It flew down to the edge of the pond and I ran out and scared it away. They can grab huge fish.

Ever since that day I have had netting over my pond. I saw the heron stop by the following day but it must have seen the netting as it didn’t bother flying down.

Yes, herons are excellent fishers and I have seen them in action. I used to install large koi ponds in Miami years ago and I had another small pond there. One day driving home from a distance I saw large birds hovering high in the sky, what I didn't realize is they were hovering over my house. When I arrived home this flock of large egrets wiped out all my fish not leaving a single trace.

This morning I still have all six of my Koi.

It would have to be a darn big snake Iris, not that I can say with certainty that we don't have them, they can actually crawl under my house which is next to the pond.

That's too bad, Mario. Around here it's a big problem because we have a lot of herons and I'm always hearing about them getting at koi in ponds. But in your case, I think hearing a sound on your porch was a clue and you might have a raccoon. Having an owl on your porch once seems like a rarity. Glad you're going to get the net back on today because of course anything that's been successful once will likely return.

There's a huge pond outside the backdoor of the house where I'm staying. Screeching osprey woke me before dawn, though it can't fish because it's winter. The water is opaque, and goldfsh are down deep. But it hovers above nonetheless. Opportunist. Who knows? It may get lucky.

Kingfisher in willows now, chattering its fool head off. It lives here year round. He's called Bandersnatch, and he's good at his job.

The resident red-shouldered hawk's favorite perch is the pergola. She waits to swoop down and pluck off spread-eagled bullfrogs. She got the really fat one named Goldie. Bet that tasted nasty.

So now the pond is finally bullfrog-free. No more bullfrogs getting bloated on tree frogs and toads and pretty little goldfish.

The shallows are black with thousands of sunning pollywogs during season. Bullfrogs will have invaded again by then. And the red-shoulder will be waiting for their return.

A great blue heron works the shoreline when fish spawn in the reeds. Goldfish in this pond outbreed every predator but my favorites go missing and I mourn them. It's always the splashiest, most colorful fish who are chosen. A cautionary tale.

Not for sale - just a quick and dirty shot of the pond, taken with phone.

I also lost 3 of my smaller(12 in) koi this summer and noticed the others stopped eating. This was a first for me as they used to always come racing up for food as soon as i got near the pond. I put up a trail cam but have yet to catch the culprit. So sorry for your loss,

That's a nice size pond Kathleen,one day I plan on expanding the one I have and hope to make a deep section just for sanctuary and also I would add shelves with over hangs giving a the fish added hiding places.

The blue herons I have observed in the wild very frequently here as they abound and as graceful and slow moving as they appear they are amazingly skilled at catching even the smallest fish.

Just got back from home depot and purchased the nylon bird netting which works really good, it's also almost invisible so it doesn't detract much from the natural beauty of the pond.
Before I install it I have to clean the pond which will be a bigger task since my water lines have become brittle and are do for replacement soon. I also don't want to do to much of a clean up because my poor fish are stressed out right now. They are very nervous from what happened. I think I will do a partial water change and add some salt to the water to sooth them, salt is very effective and also helps with parasites since the water quality is not at it's peak.

I see signs of a battle in the pond with fish scales in the water, I have a metallic colored Koi which scales really glimmer and sparkle when the sun shines through the water. What ever it was really shook up my fish to the core.

My work is cut out for me today.

'That sucks Jean, but when we domesticate to some degree the wild, it's going to happen as it does in the wild as well. It's kinda why I don't name them other than calling them by their colors.

I have a small pond at home, and never feed my fish in winter. They don't feed their fish in winter either. They don't need to be fed. But as soon as the weather warms, fish stampede to get at the Cheerios.

It could also be Mister Fox. Even a big owl would have a hard time with an 18 inch fish, although an eagle might do it if you have them where you are. The foxes in my area will knock over full trash cans and drag off edibles, so it seems possible too. Some robust metal screens might be helpful.

Thing is my pond is like 5 feet away from my front door of the house so I don't think it's gonna be a fox or coon, the owl I had on my porch was huge, I mean huge.
Now the osprey we have around are big and can easily carry away a small dog. In fact I heard one around the yard high up in the trees yesterday but didn't see it. Then the hawks around here get pretty big too.

The cleaning is coming along, I had a secondary small pump to an ultra violet filter stop working so I'm glad I decided to do a clean up, the algae was starting to bloom pretty thick. Going to make a run to the grocery store to get 5 lbs of fine kosher salt and some hydrogen peroxide.

cats do eat fish. or maybe a neighbor got really hungry, or really wanted a pet.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Sorry for your feelings of loss. (Separate discussion of the sudden profusion of "Empathy")

I had a situation a number of years back while I was maintaining a 55 gallon (?) aquarium that is stocked with real stuff I caught at the beach. Including beach sand.

Included with the beach sand (not intentionally, albeit somewhat inevitable) were sand worms. Bloodworms. UGLY! but they were like an ant farm and they had living tubes through the sand, holes appeared in the sand and when I would drop in froze dried shrimp, the worms would come up and snatch a shrimp and go back downt their hole is a split second.

I also had a crab in the tank.

Crabs like to dig into the sand and you often won't see them except for their eyes. long story short. I went away for a weekend and when I came back, GONE! My crab had disappeared without a trace. I searched everywhere. did she climb out? Is she hiding someplace? Eventually I had to resign myself to the idea that she had molted, and when she was a soft shell, the worms made their move! The worms got to be about 12 inches long (longer if stretched) about the grossest things I have ever grown! Still, I was a little more than moderately upset when I foolishly killed them as I tried to alter the tank so that I could watch them better. Nor do I ignore the idea that the crab was digging in the sand precisely in the effort to catch a worm to eat.

Ancillary story was the crawdaddy that I kept in a small fishbowl in my office that was missing when I got back to the office. I was certain that someone had broken into my office and snatched my crawdad just to bother me. Or that a rat had... about two weeks (let's say) later I was changing into one of the pairs of shoes I keep at the office. There he was. He had jumped out of the bowl. Crawdad crawled across the counter top and fell off the edge into my loafer. There he curled up and died. It might be time for some charcoal insoles, I don't know.

PLAU
UPD

Mike the cat theory is a possibility,so is the hungry neighbor. Lol!

Uther, yeah the biology in marine or pond water can get pretty disgusting, cleaning my bio filters I see these rid worms/parasites pretty gross. The jumping fish act has also happened with my koi, in fact it was the first thing I did was look all around the pond boarder and under plants.

My fish have relaxed they felt secure with me cleaning the pond for them, and now the bird netting is installed and they are happy again, they might even eat. I believe they were in full mourning the death of their mate yesterday. Koi fish are incredibly smart. You should see them now swimming very happy, yesterday they were clumped together not even moving.

Happy ending, well except for orange and white, rip.

is it possible you have a cannibal in the group?

that the other fish ate that one?

maybe he was in trouble with the maffia and he's sleeping with the birds now.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

you know they fit him with helium shoes.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Animals (and I suspect fish) also grieve. That might be one reason they are not eating, Mario.

or they are all very full with that fish buffet they had.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

Kathy, no doubt in my mind they they actually are grieving, they are a very close group, they all line up next to each other and are very used to a routine, that is what really saddens me thinking about how they perceive and know that there is one of theirs no longer with them.

This reminds me of a documentary I saw about how elephants truly grieve over their dead and how they visit the locations where their family members died even years after it happens and on the anniversary of the deaths, it's really mind blowing that they are so aware of death and it's implications and they even cry with tears. I think koi are like that.

Mike I feed these guys every day with food they love, they expect me at a certain time every day and if it's not me feeding them they probably won't eat, it's pretty amazing. I have been keeping koi now for over 17 years and they are really special animals.

I just tried feeding them and they are swimming around but they are still not eating, understandable.

I'm sorry to hear about the missing koi. I also have a pond with koi. Bought 4 baby koi a few years ago, 2yrs later they had 2 babies, a year later one died which was our favorite koi Cappy (we named the fish) a year later Leo died. So now we are back to having 4 koi, two original and two of the babies who are now also adults. We found the dead koi in the pond, so not sure how they died. Our fish only come to the surface to eat surface bugs or when we feed them once in a blue moon. They normally feed off the algae. They always swim towards the depth of the water when anything/anyone is near the pond. Which is good as we have a neighbor's cat and a stray cat always drinking from the pond.

Thank you Crystal for sharing, I was just doing some reading on Koi, there seems to be a saying that always it's the favorite fish that go missing, I found that profoundly strange but true. Over the years I have lost fish and this I can attest to. I've had them jump out of the pond but it's been mostly predators from above that spot them from the sky above that attack. I recently built a metal roof over them for this very reason and also to keep the water from super heating in the hot Florida summer as my pond is no more than 28" at it's deepest point.

While cleaning the pond today before placing a bird netting over the pond sure enough I spotted the osprey I heard yesterday and it was in the tallest of trees in my neighbors yard and it appears that from high up in the tree at the angle it was perched had a bulls eye view of the pond. I am happy to have secured the new netting over the pond today.

maybe the water PH is off. or you need a shade rock or some place to hide. or maybe it needs to be deeper. as they grow they need more space.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

The fish are starting to outgrow the pond, the pond is aprox 500 to 600 gallons, I do plan on expanding it if I decide to stay at this home in the coming year or two. What I discovered today was that a secondary pump failed which is what pumps water through a UV sterilizer which works really good at keeping water quality good. It turns out that it only tripped and once I cleaned it and all the filters in the water fall section, it started right up, what through me off is that the UV light glows and was on but the water was not circulating through it and it circulates to the reservoir in the water fall which can't be seen as it's covered.

So I started getting some string algae growing which I managed to clear out most of it, the water looks good, but I didn't get a chance to add the salt and peroxide yet. I have well water and the PH is really usually spot on since i don't add anything to the water to treat algae or chlorine and did a 3/4 water change. They do poop up a storm though so I make sure not to overfeed. Koi are very temperamental fish and they easily stress out just a few degrees in water temperature or PH is all it takes.

A bird or something in their space chasing them around in a confined area is enough to totally stress them out, add to that the loss of a family member and I don't really expect them to want to eat. They have calmed down and are behaving more normal since I cleaned the pond.

Sorry to hear about you missing Koi. I know you have to keep after fish quite a bit.

Thanks Bill, they can be very challenging at times to maintain, it depends on the setup, equipment and ambient conditions as well, size and amount of fish play a role role too.

Just an update, I tried to feed them again but they get jittery once the pellets hit the water and they are still not eating, they are a lot calmer even though still traumatized by the incident. I spotted an osprey nest today from my back yard a few lots behind us runs some high tension lines and there are very tall towers and at the very top of the tower I could see a platform with a osprey nest.

I also saw it hovering really high in the sky today as it was a beautiful day, I took my camera out to try and catch it in flight but it was really moving fast. I also noticed a lot of big buzzards flying around in groups but I don't think they are predators as much as they are scavengers and I think they only eat dead prey.

I haven't added the salt to the pond yet but I will tomorrow, it has helped them relax in the past after they get stressed for various reasons. I just didn't want to shock them with the water change and then the salt all at once.

maybe you can find a food that doesn't disrupt the water tension. flakes or i know my fish loved tubifex worms... it loved them actually. i could almost make it do tricks, jumping out of the water grabbing it from my hand.

or maybe you can replace it with a fish that's similar, it works with kids.


----Mike Savad
http://www.MikeSavad.com

I think they will come around, I saw them eating yesterday some of the food I fed them Sunday before doing the water change. I only fed a few pellets now and I'll know if they ate them tomorrow or not.

They can go days without eating, I'm more concerned with there behavior, they were pretty calm, in fact I thought they really felt protected when I was cleaning the pond and removing sludge from the pond floor, it was shortly after that they started eating some.

I wouldn't want to add any new fish, they are to smart for that, they will know. Plus it's crowded enough, they guys have gotten huge in just a few years.

I am so sorry for your loss, Mario. I know what it is like to lose a beloved pet.

Koi that size are valuable. That much fish to disappear at one time due to natural causes would be hard to explain unless you had an alligator or a family of otters. I suspect a human with a net...

Thank you Laurel, it's always sad when it happens when I first established this pond and I stocked it I lost a few also, it was not due to predators at that time but either the fish came sick or I used an algaecide and that killed them, I no longer used chemicals to control algae.

Robert, I had a total of 7 fish, only one was attacked and went missing the other six are just missing there friend. I'm pretty certain it was a flying feathered culprit. Hopefully my new bird netting will stop if they decide to attack again.

Most Koi live 25 to 35 years.

Interesting tip bit on Koi:

Hanako was a scarlet koi fish owned by several individuals, the last of which being Dr. Komei Koshihara. Her name Hanako is translated “flower girl” in Japanese. She was reportedly 226 years old at her death. Her age was determined by removing two of her scales and examining them extensively in 1966.

Koi got a shot of sodium, 1.5 lbs to be exact which is half of the recommended dose. I also added 1 cup of hydrogen peroxide 3/4 the recommended amount. I did not want to run the risk of over treating them. I can always add more later. The salt works to inhibit algae growth and also treats any parasites and other scale conditions, but it also soothes and relaxes them. The peroxide does some of the same but also oxygenates the water.

Sorry about your Koi Mario. If you have the room in your pond, you can also put some PVC pipe on the floor of the pond to give an added hiding spot from predators.

Thanks Maureen, actually my pond is only about 10' x 8' and 28" deep. I think the bird netting should do the trick, if for some reason that fails that were to fail ( I HOPE NOT) I will enclose the area as I already have a metal roof over it with 4 corner post.

They seem to be coming around slowly, but they really got shaken pretty bad, imagine someone breaking into your living room and wanting to kill you and you have nowhere to run and escape, you witness a killing of your family member by this invader. I would be shaken as well.

I felt bad for the one that lost it's life, it was a two color beautiful red and white koi but I also felt bad for the rest of my koi for the traumatic experience that they must have endured.

The water change salt and peroxide really helped, they will survive, no physical injuries to any of my remaining six.

My Koi have had their first full meal tonight since their horrible ordeal almost a week ago, they came to greet me and began to eat like the hungry pals I'm used to. :-)

That is good to hear Mario.

You must be a happy Papa.

Actually I felt like I let the poor little guys down even though I know I take good care of them,it's just one of those things. I am happy they are back to their usual routine, I realize how sensitive and social they are now. :-)

I think I can put this thread to rest now, RIP Orange and White.